Apparatus for the treatment of yarns and fabric

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for treating yarns and webs of material wherein a rotating perforated drum is positioned within a closed casing and has an inner centrifugal pump delivering treating fluid through the perforations to yarns or webs wound on the outer surface of the drum.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Paul Dubach Wetzikon, Switzerland; Paul Guiflerrnin, le Coteau, France [21] Appl. No. 9,482

[22] Filed Feb. 9, 1970 [45] Patented Aug. 31, 1971 [73] Assignee Heberlein & Co. AG. Wattwil, Switzerland [32] Priority Mar. 31, 1969 [3 3] Switzerland [54] APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF YARNS AND FABRIC 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl

[51] lint. Cl 1305c 8/02 [50] Field ofsearch 68/150 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,195,606 8/1916 Quick 68/150 1,280,188 10/1918 Dudley 68/150 3,100,979 8/1963 Stanway 68/150 Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Attorney-Ward, McElhannon, Brooks & Fitzpatrick ABSTRACT: Apparatus for treating yarns and webs of material wherein a rotating perforated drum is positioned within a closed casing and has an inner centrifugal pump delivering treating fluid through the perforations to yarns or webs wound on the outer surface of the drum PATENTEU was] |97| 3 602 015 SHEH 2 OF 3 ATTO PATENTED AUB31 15m SHEET 3 OF 3 0 0 0d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O O O O 0 O 0 O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 OOOOOOOOOOOO WV 0OO00OO0000O 0 0000 0000000 INVEN'IURS 3411c 8409 By 89w. GUMLEQM/ APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF YARNS AND FABRIC This invention relates to apparatus for the treatment of yarns, which term includes threads, or webs of material, especially textile fabrics, and more particularly, to such apparatus for the treatment of the material with fluids such as liquids, gases and steam and the like, and constitutes an improvement over the apparatus disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,233,437.

Apparatus for the treatment of yarns and webs of material such as textile material, are already known wherein the material to be treated is wound onto the perforated jacket of a rotatable drum, the treatment medium being then introduced into the interior of the drum and driven outwardly through the material to be treated by pump pressure as well as centrifugal force. This type of apparatus is used for a wide variety of fluid treatment such as washing, desizing, boiling, bleaching or dyeing of yarns and of woven and knitted fabrics in fullwidth. In connection with such apparatus, it is known to mount the perforated drum on a hollow shaft extending along the longitudinal central axis thereof, the shaft being also perforated and having one end connected with a tube or pipe for the introduction under pressure of the treatment fluid. Earlier patents related to the present art and which are believed to be of interest are Pat. Nos. 3,413,080 and 3,476,501 in addition to the patent mentioned above.

While the apparatus described in Pat. No. 3,233,437 has found satisfactory application in the art, nevertheless all apparatus of the type in question and presently known to us involve certain difficulties and disadvantages which, for example, result in the need to utilize a rather large volume of fluid medium, a substantial portion of which is lost by centrifugal castofi. Thus, where the jacket has a diameter of approximately 950 mm. and a length of approximately 1500 mm., a fluid volume of approximately 1000 liters is necessary and, as stated, a good portion of this will be lost by being cast off the fabric being treated due to centrifugal force. Furthermore, approximately 35 hp. is required to maintain the fluid under normal pressure; and, in spite of the important accumulative forces in the inner layers of the woundup material to be treated, a suitable adaptation of pressure to the porosity of the material over its full width is extremely difficult because the porosity varies from layer to layer of the yarn or fabric.

1 Accordingly, we have conceived by our invention, apparatus which successfully obviates the foregoing difficulties and disadvantages. Thus, we contribute a simple and economical apparatus of the class described by means of which it is possible to adapt the quantities of fluid introduced into the device to the width and nature of the material being treated, and at the same time to maintain a higher output and lower fluid consumption than has been customary thus far.

In essence, our apparatus comprises a drum rotatable about its axis and formed with a perforated jacket, the entire drum being contained within a closed casing and being rigidly mounted on an axial hollow shaft in fluid-flow communication with a container or vessel in which the fluid treatment medium is stored. The hollow shaft is connected to the storage container by a pipe system, both for feeding fluid to the rotatable drum and for returning the fluid to the storage container. Additionally, a centrifugal pump is arranged in the interior of the perforated drum and includes an annular chamber connected with the axial hollow shaft and coaxial with same and having a series of channels extending outwardly from its surface to the perforated drum jacket.

As a feature of the invention, the pipe or conduit utilized for returning fluid medium from the casing to the storage vessel is equipped with a check valve permitting fluid-flow in one direction only; and a pressure compensation system is provided between the drum casing and the storage which system includes a valve, operation of which governs operation of the check valve in the return flow conduit whereby the function of that conduit may be controlled as desired.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the centrifugal pump built into the rotating drum. Thus, the annular chamber surrounding the axial shaft is formed by a tube having a series of circumferentially spaced, longitudinally extending slots which communicate with longitudinally extending, spirally contoured passageways for delivering the fluid treatment medium from the annular compartment to the inner surface of the perforated jacket with the eflect of a centrifugal pump. We prefer that the spiral passageways intercept the inner chamber or compartment at an angle of the order of between 4 and 10, and preferably, 6", and that the width of the spiral passageways increase towards the drum jacket.

There has thus been outlined rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of the invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

A specific embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational illustration of an embodiment of apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the perforated drum illustrating the built-in centrifugal pump; and

FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of the drum illustrating certain specific details associated therewith.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a complete installation according to the present invention and which includes a cylindrical container l for the treatment fluid. The cover 4 of the container is fitted with an input valve 3 through which compressed air may be introduced, and a safety valve 5 for permitting the escape of air from the container in the event that the same becomes overpressurized. The bottom of the containeris domed, as at 6, and the wall of the container is provided with an outlet opening 7 at about the maximum height of the domed bottom, and this opening is connected to a feed tube 8 through which fluid from the container may be fed to a central hollow shaft 18 axially disposed in a perforated drum 19 about which a plurality of layers of yarns or a web of material such as textile fabrics may be wound to a thickness such as indicated by the reference numeral 21. The bottom of the container is also equipped with a cleanout pipe and valve 13.

It will be noted that the rotatable perforated drum 19, as well as the material 21 and the tube 18 are contained within an outer cylindrical housing 23 which is in fluid-flow communication with the lower portion of the container 1 by means of a backflow tube 10 and a flap or check valve 9. Additionally, a tube 12 extends laterally from the central zone of the wall of the container 1 to the drum casing 23 at about the level of the lowermost portion of the perforated drum 19 at any given time, and thus connects the chamber 22 within the casing 23 with the interior of the container 1 at that level, all for a purpose later to be described.

From the description thus far, it will be seen that, after the perforated drum 19 is wound with material 21 to be treated, as shown in FIG. 3, and is mounted axially within the housing 23, and the container 1 is charged with treating fluid and air under pressure, the drum 19 is then rotated by means of a drive motor (not shown) and the fluid in the container 1 will be fed to the tube 118 through the perforations of which centrifugal force will cause the same to move outwardly towards the interior surface of the perforated drum 1). By reason of the centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the drum 19, and of the evacuating effect created by the porosity of the fabric or material to be treated, the fluid medium passes into and through the woundup fabric, layer by layer, until it reaches the outermost surface thereof after which that fluid which has not been absorbed by the fabric 21 is cast off the fabric into the chamber 22 of the housing 23 and flows back through the backflow tube and closure flap valve 9 to the container 1. As long as the level of the fluid in the container 1 is higher than the level of the tube 12, there will be sufficient fluid within the housing 23 so that at least that portion of the fabric 21 indicated by the segment A-B will be continuously moved in the fluid bath. Should the level of fluid in container 1 sink below the level of the tube 12, as for example, indicated at 15', the tube 12, by means of a manual valve 14 therein, maybe utilized to evacuate air from the casing 23. The passage of fluid from the housing 23 to the container 1 through the backflow tube 10 is controlled by the valve 14, the flap 9 being free to open only when the valve is employed to equalize the pressure in the housing 23 and container 1.

As has been stated, we provide a centrifugal pump within the interior of the perforated drum 19 to assist in movement of the treating fluid from the tube 18 to the surface of the drum 19. Thus, referring now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the hollow shaft 18 is actually enlarged by the provision of a sleeve 25 which, with the tube 18, forms a chamber concentric with the tube and annular in cross section. The perforated drum 19 is, of course, also concentric with the tube 18 and is supported on the sleeve of the chamber 20 by means of pairs of curved sheet metal parts 28, 29; 30, 31; 32, 33; and 34, as well as by supporting blocks 40, 41, 42 and 43, respectively, which blocks are so arranged that they do not hinder axial or radial flow of fluid along the inner face of the perforated drum 19. The sleeve 25 is provided with four axial parallel slots 26, 26, 26" and 26, in the present illustration, to the opposite edges of which slots one of he parts of a pair of the sheet metal parts 28, 29; 30, 31; 32, 33; and 34, 35 are secured to form respectively, channels 36, 37, 38 and 39 communicating with the chamber 20. These channels each follow the path of a logarithmic spiral with its axis at the center of the tube 18, and serve to lead the treating fluid from the chamber 20 to the perforated jacket or drum 19. The slots 26, 26', 26" and 26" and each corresponding part of the spiral channels are 90 apart so that the unit is balanced and symmetrical.

The angles between the sleeve 25 of the chamber 20 and the surfaces 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 at the respective slots 26, 26', 26" and 26" is of the order of between 4 and 10, and preferably approximately 6, which angle determines the input angle of the fluid passing from the chamber 20 to the channels 36 to 39. The length of the channels is, of course, adapted to the length of the drum which, by way of example, may be 1800 mm., while its diameter is 995 mm. The central zone of the channels 36 to 39 have an inner diameter of the order of about 35 mm. and this continuously increases toward the outer ends thereof. Between adjacent channels, pressure tight chambers 44, 45, 46 and 47 are maintained at atmospheric pressure.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a portion in section of the upper part of the drum 19 with the perforations therein being designated by the reference numeral 48. Depending upon the width of the material 21 being treated, those perforations 48 which are not needed for the particular treatment may be covered on both sides of the drum ends 54 by elastic bandagelike members 49 and secured in place by tightening rings 50 and 52 by means of screws 51 and 53 to prevent radial and axial displacement of the bandagelike members 49. In this connection, it is important that the members 49 should cover prewound fabric of the roll 21 in its outer zones and that the porous postwound fabric 56 should be thus secured by tightening the ring 50 so as to prevent bulking of the outer fabric layers during the centrifugal action. Preferably, the member 49 is positioned over the outer zone of the prewound fabric to the extent of approximately 50 mm.

In operation, as stated before, the material to be treated is wound on the drum 19 and the prewound and postwound fabric 55 and 56, respectively, are secured by means of the rings 50 and 52; and the fabric roll 21 is positioned within the casing 23 by means of the carriage 17 (FIG. 1). The hollow shaft 18, and consequently the chamber 20 are connected with the feed tube 8, the valve 9 in tube 10 is closed and the container 1 is filled with fluid to the level indicated by the reference numeral 15" so that, in the example illustrated, at least 450 liters of .fluid will be in the container 1 over the minimum treatment level 15.

When the drum l9 begins to rotate about its axis, the same acts as a centrifugal pump with respect to the fluid in the container l by means of the spiral channels 36 to 39, and as a centrifugal drum with respect to the fabric roll 21. It has been observed that the pumping action occurs only when the feed tube 8, the chamber 20 and the channels 36 to 39 have first been fed continuously with treating fluidand this action is enhanced by the centrifugal evacuation of the roll 21 and by a pulsating pressure which has been observed to arise therein so that continuous pressure compensation between the various fabric roll layers is obtained .within the entire roll and the channels feeding same.

Due to the logarithmic spiral configuration of the channels 36 to 39, the speed of flow of the fluid in the first and second third of the channels is converted into kinetic energy by the centrifugal force and this is sufficient to flood the fabric roll regularly with fluid. The same is analogously true in connection with the use of vapors or gases as treating fluids. In the present example, the feeding of liquid to the drum 19 is effected by means of compressed air at a water column pressure of approximately 2000 mm. acting on the surface of the liquid in container 1 and the centrifugal pump effect of the drum can only occur when the channels have been filled with liquid and the level of the liquid in the chamber 22 and container 1 is less than 500 mm. below the center of the hollow shaft 18, i.e., at least above the level indicated in container 1 by the numeral 15.

At the beginning of the procedure, the valve 14 in the tube 12 is open until, a level of fluid occurs in the chamber 22 up to the point 24, and then the valve is shut. When treatment has been terminated, the fluid level will have lowered to a point such that the tube 12 may be used for pressure compensation between the chamber 22 and the container 1 whereupon the flap valve 9 may be opened and the backflow of fluid from the chamber 22 through the tube 10 into the container 1 takes place.

By means of our apparatus, we contribute a simple and economical means by which it is possible to adapt appropriate quantities of fluid into the device according to the characteristics of the material to be-treated and to maintain a higher output than was heretofore possible with a lower fluid consumption; and by means of the centrifugal pumping arrangement within the perforated drum we are able to avoid pressure blows and to maintain regular distribution of the treating medium.

We believe that the construction and operation of our novel apparatus will now be fully appreciated by those persons skilled in the art.

What is claimed is.

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising; a closed casing, a perforated drum within said casing and rotatable about its central longitudinal axis, a hollow shaft coaxial with said drum and formed with spaced openings, a container for storing fluid, a conduit connecting said hollow shaft and said container for feeding fluid to said shaft, tube means for returning fluid from said casing to the lower region of said container and centrifugal pump means arranged within the perforated drum for rotation therewith to direct fluid from said hollow shaft through said perforated drum.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said centrifugal pump means comprises a cylindrical chamber in fluid-flow communication with said hollow shaft and coaxial therewith longitudinal slots therein and said means forming said channels are connected to the edges of said slots, respectively, at angles of the order of between 4 and 10.

5. Apparatus according to claim 41, wherein said means forming said channels are connected to the edges of said slots, respectively, at angles of about 6.

6. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said channels are in the form of logarithmic spirals. 

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising; a closed casing, a perforated drum within said casing and rotatable about its central longitudinal axis, a hollow shaft coaxial with said drum and formed with spaced openings, a container for storing fluid, a conduit connecting said hollow shaft and said container for feeding fluid to said shaft, tube means for returning fluid from said casing to the lower region of said container and centrifugal pump means arranged within the perforated drum for rotation therewith to direct fluid from said hollow shaft through said perforated drum.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said centrifugal pump means comprises a cylindrical chamber in fluid-flow communication with said hollow shaft and coaxial therewith and means forming a plurality of channels communicating with said chamber and extending outwardly thereof.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a flap valve is provided in said tube means to prevent backflow therethrough from said container to said casing, and a valved tube connecting said container and casing above the level of said flap valve for controlling said flap valve.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said channels communicate with said cylindrical chamber through parallel longitudinal slots therein and said means forming said channels are connected to the edges of said slots, respectively, at angles of the order of between 4* and 10*.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said means forming said channels are connected to the edges of said slots, respectively, at angles of about 6*.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said channels are in the form of logarithmic spirals. 